Son of Adam, Daughter of Eve
by Yoshidas
Summary: It's easy understand the who, but sometimes understanding the why is next to impossible. Eric/OC Ryan/OC Calleigh/Jake
1. Prologue: Fallen Leaves

Prooolooogue! :D  
This will all make sense in the first chapter, promise. x]

**Chapter Summary: **I want to do something meaningful.  
**Rating: **G

**Song: **Fallen Leaves - Billy Talent

**Disclaimer:** I don't own CSI: Miami or Horatio. I do own Cambria, however.

* * *

I twirl my half-smoked cigarette between my fingers, staring at it emptily. The smoke I had exhaled spiraled lazily above my head, dissipating into nothingness shortly. I put the cigarette to my mouth and inhale deeply, watching the embers on the end of the "cancer stick" glow and then fade when I let go.

Closing my eyes, I savor the life-threatening substance in the back of my throat. Once my lungs have had their fill, I exhale and watch the smoke dance above my head again. It swirls and twists and floats upward slowly, it's deep grayish color distinct against the bright blue Miami skies.

With a smirk, I wonder vaguely why I'm creating poetic imagery from cigarette smoke. I toss the cigarette onto the ground and stomp on it, snuffing out the smoldering embers. After extinguishing my only vice, I reach into my car through the open window and grab the pack of peppermint gum I have laying in the cup holders between the passenger's and driver's seat. Popping one into my mouth, I chew furiously, hoping to dispel the smell of smoke on my breath.

"You know, you should give it up."

The voice I hear from behind me is familiar and a grim smile spreads across my face.

"I tried that already; didn't work."

I spin around and come face to face with Lieutenant Horatio Caine, head of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab and my self-proclaimed protector. He smiles wanly at me, his sunglasses in his hands, and he moves towards me.

"How have you been?" he asks me, moving to stand beside me. I snap my gum and look him in his eyes.

"Fine. And you?"

"Surviving." He says easily, putting his hands on his hips. I nod and keep quiet; awaiting the onslaught of questions I'm sure he's got for me.

And, sure enough, he begins. Questions about school, my recent whereabouts (These ones are because he called my house once and I wasn't there.), general things a father would ask. I play along, answering whatever questions I feel deserve an answer. Horatio absorbs what information I give him wordlessly, keeping me under his watchful gaze.

His questioning period ends quite quickly, and an easy silence falls over us. I stare out over the ocean, chewing thoughtlessly on my gum (Which is quickly losing it's flavor.). My mind is racing and I'm trying to find the words to explain to my adoptive "father" what I plan to do with my life.

"Horatio," I start suddenly, my thoughts running a mile a minute.

"Yes, Cambria?"

"I wanna go to military school."

He looks up at me suddenly, his icy blue eyes homing in on my grey ones.

"Military school."

"Yeah." I respond shortly, keeping my gaze on the ocean.

He's quiet for a moment, his eyes falling to the ground. Seconds tick by like hours and I decide I'm tired of the tasteless wad of gum in my mouth and move towards to garbage can to spit it out.

"Cambria."

I look at him this time. He's smiling calmly.

"If that's what you want, then it's okay by me."

I smile back.

"Horatio…"

"I'm listening."

"Thank you."


	2. 01: Know The Enemy

First chapter! :D I'm on a roll~.

**Chapter Summary: **Being the newbie seriously sucks balls.  
**Rating:** PG-13

**Song: **Know The Enemy - Green Day

**Disclaimer: **No own claims on CSI: Miami, Horatio, and the rest of the team. Own claims on Cambria.

* * *

[ **Miami, Florida, 9:10am** ]

. **Cambria's PoV** .

You know, I've always found Miami really pretty. I don't think I would've been happy anywhere else. Miami reminds me of home. Sun, sand, surf ... It's as close as I could get.  
Leaning back in my seat, I let a heavy sigh escape my lips. I don't know why I agreed to this. I'm not cut out for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

My eyes traveled from the roof of my car to the front doors of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Horatio Caine was standing on the top step of the first flight of stairs, sunglasses in hand. He was waiting for me, I could tell.

I grimaced. All of this was so overwhelming. So surreal. Fresh out of military school and swept into a job without any warning.

"Might as well get this over with," I murmur to myself, leaning forward to grasp the key in the ignition. I twist the key counter-clockwise, listening to the engine's steady hum die out. I was stalling, I knew it. But I was nervous, and rightly so. I'm the newbie. Aren't newbies always nervous?

Reluctantly, I open my driver's side door and climb out. When I do, I'm met with a blast of humid air, which is a huge contrast to the icy air conditioning that I was immersed in within my Lexus. It surprises me a bit, although I'm not sure why. I've lived here for as long as I can remember. I should be used to this.

Horatio lifts his head and catches my eye. A warm, welcoming smile spreads across his face and my mind tells me to leave. Quickly. But instead, I smile back at him, hoping that the nervousness I feel is well-masked in my grey eyes.

"Cambria, you're on time." Horatio says, still smiling. My smile wavers a bit, and I scold myself mentally.

'_Keep it together, Cambria_…'

"Yeah, I'd like to make a good first impression." I reply, ascending the stairs. In my mind, my own warped perception of everything, every step I took seemed to take an eternity. Horatio was _still_ smiling. I know he means well, but his smile is only throwing me off.

After time has restarted from its standstill, I finally reach the top step. Horatio holds out a hand for me to shake.

"Welcome to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab." he says calmly.  
I grab his hand, squeezing a little tighter than intended, "Uh, thanks, Horatio. But, to tell you the truth, I don't think I'm up for this." I admit softly, hating myself. I'm not the type to admit weakness, and yet here I am, professing my deepest feelings to Horatio. What a world.

"Cambria," he starts, "I wouldn't have asked you here if I didn't think you could do this."  
I nod, taking a huge gulp of air and swallowing, creating an audible gulp, "Guess so… I'm just kinda nervous, you know?"  
He smiled again, "Well, that's to be expected," he jerks his head towards to two doors, "Let's head inside."

I nod once more and follow him inside.

We're hit by a blast of cool air, which soothes me. But that calm, relaxed feeling fed to me by the icy air disappears quickly when I see the interior of the lab.

If I was scared shitless before, it's nothing compared to now.

The lab is dimly lit, but expansive.  
The separate labs were designated by glass walls and the mellow blue lighting gave the entire place a calming feel. But the atmosphere does little to calm my rapidly-beating heart.  
"Oh wow…" I exhale slowly, my mind unaware that I had been holding my breath. Horatio chuckles, but says nothing.

"Let's go meet the team," he says, directing me towards one of the glass-enclosed laboratories.

"The fingerprint lab," Horatio answers my mental question. I blink at the man, surprised and slightly disarmed by the fact that he seemed to know what I was thinking.  
I cover my surprise and nod. We lapse into silence again and I default on giving the people inside the lab a cursory once-over. There are two of them, a male and a female. The female was blonde, pale blonde and the male was, in my humble opinion, tall, tan and handsome.

"Calleigh. Eric." Horatio greets after pulling the door open and almost having to physically drag me inside. I bit my lower lip nervously.  
"Hey H." the male acknowledges before returning to his work idly.  
"Horatio!" the female smiles, "Who's your friend?"  
The male glances up from his work to look at me. His chocolate brown eyes bore into me and, despite my mind screaming at me, my eye line flies to the floor.

"This is Cambria Morgan, our newest lab tech." Horatio introduces me.  
"Hey," I mumble, lifting a hand weakly in an attempt at a wave.

'_Why, oh why, did I agree to this?_'

"Nice to meet you, Cambria! I'm Calleigh Duquesne." the female extends her hand for me to shake. I step forward, tamping down my uneasiness and putting on an air of confidence. I shook her hand, "Likewise I'm sure."  
Roughly, not to mention abruptly, Calleigh elbows the male in the side. Sighing, he stops gazing into the eyepiece of the microscope and lifts his head to look at me.  
"Eric Delko." he introduces, smiling awkwardly at me.

'_Eric, huh?_'

"Nice to meet you, too, Eric..." I murmur, forcing my seemingly atrophied facial muscles into a smile.

"Cambria is our new A/V specialist." Horatio explains in my stead, still smiling in that calm, cool, collected way of his. I hate how he's so relaxed, while I'm having several anxiety attacks internally. Damn him.

"Really?" Calleigh says, sounding impressed. I nod and murmur a half-hearted "yes".  
"I wondered when Delia's replacement was going to arrive." [**1**] Eric muses quietly.

"Delia?" I question. I receive a few stunned looks in response to my question and instantly I regret asking. Apparently, I'm expected to know who I'm replacing.  
"Delia Hammond. She was our old A/V specialist. She quit a little while ago." Horatio explains. I grunt my thanks, feeling stupid and embarrassed due to my previous ignorance.

I can't help but stew on the reactions I had received. I bite my lower lip, breathing deeply, slowly, trying to control the torrent of emotion I'm feeling inside.  
Now my need to escape from here is only intensifying. Not just because of my previous embarrassment, but I feel this deep, intense need to get away from _him_.

Him being Eric.

He thinks I don't notice him occasionally glancing at me out of his peripheral. It's not like the once-over look that Calleigh gives me, which screams "_I'm-just-sizing-you-up_". Oh no. It's more like the gazes you'd get in a club if you were wearing short shorts and a halter. A kind of "_You-know-damn-well-I-find-you-attractive_" kind of look. A series of chills run down my spine. Uneasy chills but, deep down, a part of me knows that they're kind of thrilled chills. Eric is an attractive guy, and the distinctly female part of my brain is enthralled that he's looking at me _like that_. But the other part of me, the cool, calculating part that landed me this job, is deeply unsettled by this obvious display of the baser instinct. When I started subtly shifting my weight from foot to foot, Horatio finally takes notice of my uncomfortable state.

"Well," Horatio's voice breaks through the suffocating silence, "Ms. Morgan and I have... plenty other lab members to meet." he turns and smiles at me, "Shall we?"

I nod eagerly, perhaps overly so because Eric quirks an eyebrow at me.  
As Horatio guides me out of the fingerprint lab, I heave a muted sigh of relief.

"Where to next?" I ask after rediscovering my voice.

He's silent for a brief moment, before answering: "DNA lab."

I nodded and we move towards said lab. I notice two people inside this lab as well, male and female, just like last time. The only difference here was that the male was shorter and paler and the female's hair color was a mixture between reddish and blonde. [**2**]

As Horatio nudges the door open, both heads jerk up, surprised to see the resident newbie.

'_Oh shit, that's right. I'm the newbie._' I remembered dismally. My mood sinks even more, hitting a level just below "upset".

"Ryan Wolfe, Maxine Valera," Horatio's voice snaps me out of my reverie, "Meet Cambria Morgan. Cambria, this is Ryan and Maxine."

I forced another smile, lifting one hand in a feeble greeting, "Hey."

"Hey," responds Ryan with a lop-sided smile. I resisted a grin.  
"Hi," Maxine smiled at me.

With the absence of a certain tanned male in this room, I feel my uneasiness level go down a few levels, so I venture outside of my comfort zone and ask, "What case are you working on?"

"Uh," Ryan starts slowly, "Teenage girl. Hit and run."

"Shame," I frown, maneuvering myself so that I can gain a better look.

Horatio smiles again, his whole face lighting up with a paternal approval.

"Well, I'll leave you to get acquainted. Cambria, if you need anything, page me."

I nod and Ryan, Maxine and I say a collective good-bye to him. After he leaves, the three of us engross ourselves in the DNA analyzing process.

Okay, so maybe this place isn't so bad.


End file.
